Broncos Bring Back Nose Tackle Shelby Harris on One-Year Deal

Upon realizing his market had drastically deflated, Shelby Harris let the Broncos know he’d rather stay than move elsewhere for a year.

Broncos general manager John Elway became interested in bringing Harris back at a team-favorable rate. The Broncos and Harris reached agreement Friday night on a 1-year, $2.5 million salary that is fully guaranteed, plus another $750,000 in per game roster bonuses ($46,875 per game) sources told Mike Klis of 9NEWS in Denver.

The deal had to be disappointing to Harris, who after a career-best season in 2019 switched from his longtime agent to a higher profile representative in the weeks prior to free agency in hopes of striking a lucrative deal, only to change again when his market value wasn’t as hoped.

It was agent Ryan Williams who finally got the deal done for Harris.

Harris made $3.095 million last year when he posted a career-best 6.0 sacks from his defensive tackle position and also led all NFL defensive linemen with 9 pass deflections in 2019. Yet, despite that solid season, he accepted a pay cut, at least until he plays in his 13th game in 2020.

He joins a Broncos three-man defensive front that will now start Jurrell Casey and either Dre’Mont Jones or Mike Purcell.